October 17, 2011

The Morning Wrap

Gray Probe: Federal officials have launched an extensive investigation into D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray's 2010 mayoral campaign, The Washington Post reports. They have subpoenaed a vast number of documents and interviewed many of his campaign staffers and associates.

Political Power: Gays and lesbians "have a great deal of political power," making legal protections for them unnecessary, a lawyer for the House wrote in a federal court filing submitted Friday. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that former U.S. solicitor general Paul Clement wrote the filing in opposition to a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Immigration Law: The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Friday stopped Alabama from enforcing elements of a controversial state immigration law, CNNreports. Provisions that order state authorities to verify the immigration status of public school students and make the "willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration card" a misdemeanor for immigrants were among the parts of the law temporarily blocked by the court.

Microsoft Trial:The Salt Lake Tribunepreviews the upcoming trial in the U.S. District Court for Utah over whether Microsoft Corp. broke antitrust laws, hurting software company Novell Inc. The case is the last of the antitrust lawsuits that Microsoft has battled since 1998.

Sanctioned: The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals doled out $15,000 in sanctions to three lawyers and their client who allege that George W. Bush administration officials arranged the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the New York Law Journalreports.